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SIAM:

ITS
GOVERNMENT, MANNERS, CUSTOMS, &c.

                                  BY
                         Rev. N. A. McDONALD,
              For ten years a Missionary in that country.

                             PHILADELPHIA:
                            ALFRED MARTIEN,
                         1214 CHESTNUT STREET.
                                 1871.

      Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1871, by
                            ALFRED MARTIEN,
      In the Office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington.

                             To the Memory
                  Of the Founder of Milnwood Academy,
                         REV. J. Y. McGINNES,

Who had the cause of Foreign Missions very much at heart;

AND TO ALL WHO HAVE BEEN PUPILS OF THAT INSTITUTION, THIS LITTLE VOLUME

Is respectfully dedicated, by one of the earliest
Students of the Institution,

The Author.

[Illustration: The present King of Siam.]

Contents.

CHAPTER I. GEOGRAPHY

CHAPTER II. THE GOVERNMENT

CHAPTER III. RELIGION

CHAPTER IV. EDUCATION AND LITERATURE

CHAPTER V. MANNERS AND CUSTOMS

CHAPTER VI. COURTSHIP AND MARRIAGE

CHAPTER VII. CEREMONIES FOR THE DYING AND DEAD

CHAPTER VIII. THEORY AND PRACTICE OF MEDICINE

CHAPTER IX. FARMING AND PRODUCTS

CHAPTER X. MODE OF DIVIDING TIME

CHAPTER XI. MISSIONARY OPERATIONS

PREFACE.

In giving these pages to the public the author has no ambition to makea book. Having been invited by the Principal of Milnwood Academy, atShade Gap, Pa., to deliver in that Institution a series of lectures,or talks, on Siam, its government, manners, customs, &c., a fewfriends have requested that they be reduced to paper and published,which is his only apology for giving them to the public in book form.A few additions have been made, and the facts are narrated as seen andunderstood by the author. In a few instances, to refresh his memory,he has referred to articles on Siam, published in the BangkokCalendar and elsewhere. The work is intended chiefly for a class ofreaders who may not have access to the more pretending works recentlypublished on that country.